Mystery in Motion: Falcon Speech & Debate Invitational 2026

Mystery in Motion:Falcon Speech & Debate Invitational

A Speech & Debate Tournament of Clues, Cases, and Competition

The Eastlake High School Falcon Speech & Debate Program cordially invites you to the 2026 Mystery in Motion: Falcon S&D Invitational.

Investigators, advocates, and sleuths from across the state are called to Eastlake High School on October 23-24, 2026, for a weekend of competition, deduction, and discovery. As teams search for clues, solve challenging questions, and uncover the truth through argumentation and performance, competitors will battle for championship honors in one of the region's premier speech and debate tournaments.

The tournament will be held in person at Eastlake High School and will offer the full slate of Individual Events, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, Policy Debate (CX), and Congressional Debate.

This investigation hopes to attract a large field of schools and competitors to maximize qualifying opportunities and points. Should any event fail to meet qualifying participation requirements, that event may be removed from the schedule.

Case Files (Debate Topics)

LD Case File:
Resolved: Outer space colonization is a moral imperative.

PF Case File:
Resolved: The United States federal government should enact a moratorium on hyperscale data center construction.

CX Case File:
Resolved: The United States federal government should establish national health insurance in the United States.

Congressional Investigation

Congressional Debate detectives will examine legislation from the TFA Fall 2026 Docket.

With three chambers available, we hope to accommodate as many investigators as possible. There is are 5 chambers available, and we will cap total entries to 75.

Preliminary Chambers: 1,3,5,7,9

Semifinals Chambers: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18

Final Chamber: 22, 23, 25, 27, 29

Important Investigation Procedures

Please refer to the official schedule for event times and cross-entry rules.

All cross-entries are undertaken at the student's own risk.

Competitors who fail to report to their assigned round on time may be dropped from the tournament, regardless of circumstance.

Participants may be marked as a no-show if:

• They do not arrive within 60 minutes of a scheduled performance round.
• They do not perform within 90 minutes after signing into a round.
• Debate competitors do not report within 15 minutes of their scheduled round.

Elimination rounds will be paneled only if sufficient judges are available.

Debate elimination brackets may be broken.

Tournament staff will attempt to accelerate the schedule whenever possible, so please monitor postings and announcements carefully.

Eastlake students will compete at their home tournament, including elimination rounds.

Congressional Debate will be held in the Eastlake Library, also known this weekend as The Evidence Archive.

All coaches and students must bring a school ID. Upon check-in, participants will receive an official tournament wristband that must be worn throughout the event.

Parking passes will be issued to coaches, judges, and student drivers to prevent vehicles from being booted.

Investigation Timeline

Friday, October 23, 2026

Congressional Schedule

(subject to minor adjustments based on entries; please arrive by 8:00 a.m.)

8:30 AM - 11:30 AM
The First Investigation: Congressional Debate Prelims

11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
The Suspects Narrow: Lunch Break

12:30 PM - 3:30 PM
The Final Interrogation: Congressional Debate Finals

Debate Rounds

4:30 PM (LD/PF)(CX)
Round 1

5:30 PM (LD/PF)
Round 2
6:15 PM (CX)
Round 2

6:30 PM (LD/PF)
Round 3

8:00 PM (CX)
Round 3

All debate elimination rounds will take place Saturday.

Saturday, October 24, 2026

8:00 AM
Extemporaneous Speaking Draw Begins
(Location: Eastlake Library)

Elimination Debate

8:00 AM
Quarterfinals

11:00 AM
Semifinals

2:00 PM
Finals

Individual Events

Preliminary Round A

8:30 AM

• Domestic Extemp (DX)
• Dramatic Interpretation (DI)
• Original Oratory (OO)
• Duet Acting

Preliminary Round B

10:00 AM

• Foreign Extemp (FX)
• Humorous Interpretation (HI)
• Informative Speaking (INF)
• Duo Interpretation
• Program Oral Interpretation (POI)

Semifinal Round A

11:30 AM

Semifinal Round B

1:00 PM

Final Round A

2:30 PM

Final Round B

4:00 PM

Gather Evidence. Build Your Case. Win the Round.

TFA/TSCA Membership Reminder

Coaches, please make sure your TFA/TSCA membership is paid prior to participating in TFA activities. A current membership is required to:

• Host a TFA tournament

• Serve as a voting member at the annual TFA/TSCA Convention

Furthermore, failure to pay your TFA/TSCA membership in a timely manner will result in a fine being assessed to your school.

For IQT hosts:

Deadline to become a TFA/TSCA member without a fine - October 31

Membership paid between November 1 and November 30 - $100 fine

Membership paid between December 1 and December 31 - $200 fine

IQT hosts that pay their TFA/TSCA membership after December 31 will be sanctioned from hosting an IQT the following year.

For non-IQT hosts:

Deadline to become a TFA/TSCA member without a fine - January 31

Membership paid between February 1 and February 15 - $100 fine

Membership paid between February 16 and TFA State Registration - $200 fine

Failure to become a TFA/TSCA member by TFA State Registration will result in the school’s entry for TFA State being dropped.